The director of Tehran's election headquarters, Safar Ali Baratlo, announced on Tuesday that the qualifications of 747 out of 1066 candidates who had registered to represent Tehran in next parliamentary election have been approved by the Interior Ministry's executive committees.

The parliamentary election is scheduled to be held on March 2. The MPs will be elected for a term of four years.

The qualifications of the candidates have to be approved by the Interior Ministry's executive committees and the Guardian Council's supervisory committees respectively.

According to Baratlo, the number of candidates representing Tehran who have gained initial approval accounts for 70% of the candidates.

More than 5,200 candidates from across the country will compete for 290 seats.

There is chance to protest results

Tehran Governor General Morteza Tamaddon said on Tuesday that those who have failed to gain the approval of the executive committees can submit their written protests to the executive committees until January 14.

"Even if the candidates are not approved again, they will have one week to file protests with the Guardian Council," Tamaddon told the Fars News Agency.

"All the procedures carried out by the elections executive committees were in conformity with the law, and the assessment of qualifications was conducted in line with the interests of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he stated.

There are unconfirmed reports that the qualifications of a number of current MPs, who had registered to run for the parliamentary elections, have not been approved.

The Mehr reported that 30 to 40 candidates have failed to gain initial approval while the Fars put the number at 50.

According to the Mehr, Ali Motahhari (a principlist MP and vocal critic of President Ahmadinejad) and Hamidreza Katoziyan (the chairman of the Majlis Energy Committee) have been found disqualified by the Interior Ministry.

According to the same report, Dariush Qanbari, the spokesman of the Majlis minority faction, and Alireza Mahjoub, who is considered the voice of labor class in the parliament, are among the reformist lawmakers whose qualifications have not been approved.

However, an official at the Interior Ministry dismissed news reports claiming that Mahjoub has failed to be approved by the executive committees, saying he has been approved.

The Fars also reported on Tuesday that 1295 reformists have registered for the parliamentary election.